Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1887-11-09
ROCKY FORK eoll,
Its Adaptability for C~oh,,.
riority to the Rock ''pe'
tiele-over Twenty Seam,
Of Hard Coal.
The Oil Fields Of the Big Horn D.,
Crude Petroleum That Give. Bet.
ter Satisfaction Than the
Refined Oil.

Mr.. S m Word, who is now in d.,
tending the District Court, was ann ss's a.
yesterday by II representative =,
MINER and asked: Ias
Mr.. Word, can you tell me anvth;-
about the Rock Fork Railroad," sa'
II don't know that l cam ..,,
Word. "The work Of grading il
pushed as rapidly as possible, and 0aas
making every effort to get it comn,o.A
fore frost interferes. We hope to nssao
road in operation before January hSas
curse the ground might freeze IN ivy
time o and interfere with pradin,
do not intend to build further thu,
Coal Banks tins year, but wehave enm.
making preliminary surveys around s,s
saltwater to Nye City, and over The
at the head OF Rock creek to Cooks ~
We have been told by parties Who
explored the country that the C,fa |
Fork is the only possible route fora
road to Cooke City, but of cous.s
want to satisfy ourselves by s. |
instrumental survey, as to which sa
the shortest practicable route. RI.
will get there next year, no matter w.
difficulties are encountered. MIR. pnA4
of St. Paul, says the road to I:'I-
City will be built next year, even ~
switchback over the mountains il ,s
sary.
"What chance has the Rocky Fors ,,,
| of competing with that OF Rock Sprnas y
! the Butte market?'
"That," said Mr.. Word, Twill dsnsra
the freight charges. We can deiiys, w. ~
coal on the cars at the mines for ah~.
$1.25 per ton, and possibly less. That y
but a fraction Of what coal costs bers s3
il the Rocky Fork coal doesn't havss
chance in this market it will be becarss =
prohlbitory freight rates. As to ousGtv
have sent samples OF both Rocky Fork s ~
Rock Springs coal to be a~nalyzed, "a,
not remember the exact result. but IL.
Rocky Fork coal showed a much smaNs,
percentage of! water and 5'D' .S
than that of Rock Springs. Trs
more water there is in coi
the more likely it is to slack. and that !.
why the Rock Springs GOALS 80 dirty, Will.
that OF Rocky Fork is SO hard and ca.r
that it will not soil the hands. Our coal
being q superior article, will certainly OIL,
strong competition to any other westpr,
coal where the freights are anywhere pear,
equal. A popularity of our coal is, thai
there are twenty-three seams, each Of a
different kind OF coal. but all hard. Differ
ent parties who sampled different seam,
have given different names TO the coal,n
"How much coal will the Northern Pa
citic take from you, Mr.. Word?"
well, thatI can't say. They haveagrsi
to take 10000 tons within the first MIN
months, and as they are experimentin
with coal from their own mines in Wash
ington Territory, it is impossible to s,
how far West they will use ours. But the
want the Rocky Fork coal, to replace til
eastern coal they have been using iron
Livingston eastward. and they will want
great deal Of it."
"Mr. Word, have you as yet made an
plans to extend your road into the oil fell
OF the Big Horn Basin?"
Not yet" was the reply. ave have ON
hands full for sometime getting the rad
into operation to the Coal Banks and
Cook City, and cannot yet pay any atten.
ton to the oil fields"
This closed the interview, MI. Word baY
called away by a detachment OF his nuu=r
GUS clients. The fact OF 80 many dNnlt
kinds OF coal being found in kuckyEuA
explains the difference in the reportsupn
it by the United States Geological Survey.
One year they reported it as an excellent
steam coal, but not a cooking coal, and
another year it was pronounced a tst.
class coking coal. Twenty-Five seams
are mentioned by Mr.. Word range from
four to thirty feet in thickness, SO that
any one of them would be an important
supply OF fuel, and in the aggregate, they
constitute what is probably the greatestcoa
deposit known ,.Beingso situated that itcan
he worked by tunnels from the face OF tho
bluff, no expensive hosting works are re-
quired. As the coal is hard and the seams
very large, an immense quantity can be
loosened at one blast, hence the remark
ably low price at which the coal can be de-
livered on the cars, at the mouth OF The
tunnel. It is highly probable that the
Northern Pacific will make such rates on
Rocky Fork coal, as will bring it into gen.
eral use all alongthe main line and BRANCHES
in Montana. 1t is a freight that will MAKE
an important, and steadily increasing ad'
dition to the receipts Of the road, and as
such, will receive favorable treatment from
the Company.
THE OIL FIELDS.
of the Big Horn Basin, lie just south oiths
Montana line. and a short distance east Oh
the Rocky Fork & Cooke City Railroad
and will undoubtedly be penetrated D! d
branch OF that road in the near lutale'
The oil is known to exist Throughout al
area of forty by eighty miles, and there ID
good reason to believe that 1t ex.enu'
northward to within a few miles Oh lls
Northern Pacific. In fact the old set'si'
| who came in by the Bozeman lrai' p'
tween the Yellowstone and Pryor -aoul,
tains, used to grease their wagons WIN .h q
black, oily stuff that oozed OUT o. u
ground in the neighborhood OF Pryor nv M1o
There is a great deal of petroleum IN wy! ",
ming, but that in the Big Horn BASIN u :!
far the purest yet discovered; so puie !.
fact that the ranchers of that region p 'a,J
it in their lamps, and say they nave u,a
worse stuff that was sold to them ii ~
fined oil. So far these oil fields nave d
tracted but little attention from !nT oH
side world, and those who live in the D paw,
seem more intent on raising big ms'On ~
than in making fortunes oGe
oil. A few claims were lo.a nn
by the discoveries OF the flowing ollspan
but from lack of means and cheap anv
portation, they have not attenlpleu Is
development. The flowing OH spT ni'i;n,s
from 80 to 40 miles south OF pn n
which is the post office for tine se. 'ar+ the
the Basin. Ali sides of the BASIN eAteps
north are shut in by precipitous rans ssti.
mountains, and the whole BASIN Is sass
cally a portion of Montana-as mutu he.
is the National Park. The counsis os
tween the Big Horn and Rocky for n.10dine
vast %storehouse of minerals 1n srades'
beds OF gypsum, OF al sprvor
that cut across the country IRON ,tibe
Mountains to Clarke's Fork, inexnaui ;-on,
deposits OF kidney-shaped hemi .av and
great lodges of marble and llmes'o aScapes
beds OF asphaltum. Natural gas ths oil
the ground in various parts u Wv al
fields. and the precious metals eAT prob.
through the surrounding mountains . more
ably no railroad in America na. busi.
field in which to oe cotps CITY
ness than the Rocky Fork @0o